New! Civils rights in Georgia for sexual orientation/gender identity?

Update on HB 849 – Georgia’s potential “bathroom bill”

HB 849, the “Georgia Civil Rights in Public Accommodations Act,” is a potential “bathroom bill” that can put the privacy and safety of our women and children at risk. HB 849 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now in the House Rules Committee. If HB 849 is not stopped, we will end up with men in women’s restrooms and boys in girls’ locker rooms and showers. We must stop the violation of privacy and safety before it begins.

If HB 849 passes, this is what the women and children of Georgia can expect:

Prior sex offense, approaching young girls. A man who had prior sex offenses against 5 to 9-year-old girls was arrested after he entered a women’s locker room dressed in a bikini and started talking to girls in the hot tub. Milwaukie, Oregon (2011). The Oregon “bathroom bill” was in effect. News article

Photographing girls. A 48-year-old man was arrested after dressing up like a woman and attempting to enter a high school locker room to photograph cheerleaders. Greensburg Salem High School, Pennsylvania (2004). News article

Attempted rape. A man dressed as a woman in England was arrested for attempting to rape a 71-year-old woman in a public restroom. South Devon, England (2012). News article

Sexual assault. A special needs teenager in Stamford, Connecticut was lured into a public restroom by three crossdressers and sexually assaulted. (2011) News article

Assaulted woman. A cross-dressing man went into a woman’s restroom and brutally punched a woman who questioned his presence there. She lost several teeth. He was convicted of assault and sentenced to prison. Port Richey, FL (1999). News article

Assaulting women. A repeat sexual offender in Toronto who claimed to be “transgender” was jailed indefinitely for sexually assaulting several at women’s shelters. (2014) Toronto passed a “gender identity non-discrimination law” in 2012. News article

Photographing women. Police arrested a man they say twice disguised himself as a woman and used a cell phone to photograph women in the showers of a college locker room. UC Berkeley (2010). News article

Photographing women. A man dressed as a woman went into a women’s restroom and was seen taking photographs of women in a bathroom stall. A woman confronted him, but he ran away before police arrived. Purdue University, (2008). News article

Videotaping women. A man dressed up like a woman was arrested after entering a Macy’s women’s restroom in order to videotape women. He spent two hours in the restroom before his camera was noticed by a customer. Palmdale, CA (2013). The California “bathroom bill” was in effect. News article.

Undressing in front of women and girls. In Seattle a man undressed in a women’s locker room in front of women and girls. Women alerted staff, who told the man to leave, but he cited a new state law that allows people to choose a bathroom based on gender identity, saying “the law has changed and I have a right to be here.” The man eventually left and returned a second time while young girls were changing for swim practice. No one was arrested in this case and police weren’t called. (Feb. 2016) News article

Undressing in front of children. A man wearing women’s clothes was arrested after he went into a women’s restroom in a Walmart and undressed in front of several children. Calhoun, GA (2010). News article

Sex offender loitering in ladies room. A male sex offender wearing fake breasts and a wig was arrested for loitering in a woman’s restroom. San Jose, CA (2009). News article

“To see women naked”. A man was arrested after he went into a public bath house for women dressed as a female. “I wanted to see women naked,” he told investigators. “Dressing up as a woman was a step to do that.” Matsuyama, Japan, (2003). News article

Background on HB 849:
Introduced by Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna), the bill would place in state code the federal code that prohibits public accommodations discrimination. The original bill language posed no immediate danger to Georgians, but that was before the bill was amended in committee to include the word “sex”. Concerned Women for America of Georgia does not support HB 849 for the following reasons:

The bill is not necessary. Public accommodation protections are already codified in 42 U.S.C. Section 2000a.

HB 849 was amended in committee to include “sex”. Another amendment was offered in committee to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” but that amendment was narrowly defeated.

Data shows that of the 45 states that have embodied the federal code in their respective state code, 22 states now prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and 18 prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. The efforts to include sexual orientation/gender identity (SOGI) in state code are now extending to the passage of local SOGI ordinances.

The Obama administration has deemed “sex” an elastic term, and regards “gender” (how one feels) synonymous with “sex” (biology), and is aggressively embedding “gender” as a part of federal policy, including Title IX funding. The results are quite disturbing. As recent as December 2015, a Chicago suburb high school must now allow a transgendered male to female student full access to female restrooms and locker rooms or risk losing Title IX funding.

We oppose any real or potential SOGI nondiscrimination legislation, i.e., “bathroom bills”, which would allow transgendered men and women to utilize the bathrooms, showers and locker rooms of their choice.

In expressing my concerns on the bill, I was told that I am reacting out fear. The facts are on our side, and we believe it is the responsibility of our lawmakers to stay clear of any legislation that puts the privacy and safety of women and children at risk. We believe that HB 849 has the potential of doing just that.